Bengal Merchant (1812 ship)
| History | |
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 .svg){kind=small} United Kingdom
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| Name: | Bengal Merchant |
| Owner: | Sedgewicke & Hearne (1812-1832) John Groves (1832-1834) Joseph Somes (1834-1839) Haviside & Company (1839-1856) |
| Builder: | Anthony Blackmore, Howrah,Bengal |
| Launched: | 26 May 1812 |
| Fate: | Hulked in 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen: | 463, or 478, or 503 (bm) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Armament: | 14 × 18&12-pounder carronades |
Bengal Merchant was a sailing ship built of teak in Bengal and launched there on 26 May 1812. She served the East India Company (EIC) in 1813 and from 1830 till 1834. She also twice transported convicts from Britain to Australia before she was hulked in 1856.
Between 1812 and 1829, Bengal Merchant was in private trade as a licensed ship.
Captain Thomas Ross sailed from Calcutta on 21 May 1813. Bengal Merchant was at Saugor on 26 July, Mauritius on 21 September, and the Cape on 17 November. She reached the Downs on 3 March 1814.
Bengal Merchant, Captain Peter Gordon, in November stopped at Tristan da Cunha for several days. There Gordon met Tommaso Corri (known as Thomas Currie), who was the only survivor (of four men) of the American Jonathan Lambert's settlement on Tristan. In May 1815 Gordon sent a letter, per Currie's request, to the government of the British colony at the Cape of Good Hope Colony, asking for British aid and protection. Eventually Britain annexed the island in 1816, establishing a small garrison there.
A passenger travelling from Batavia to Dover in 1815 on Bengal Merchant remarked on her master's insistence on her crew attending divine service on Sunday. The passenger thought it ridiculous to read prayers in English to a crew of lascars, Chinese, and Malays who did not understand the language. On 17 January 1816 Bengal Merchant was at Deal where a gale caught her, causing her to break her anchor.
Between 1816 and 1818, Bengal Merchant was in Spanish hands. After her return to British ownership and Calcutta registry, she became a Free Trader.
In early 1820 Bengal Merchant was at Canton. She had 300 chests of opium.
At the end of July 1826 Bengal Merchant was at Bengal. There she ran into Claudine, carrying away Claudine's bowsprit and inflicting other damage.
Bengal Merchant sailed from Plymouth on 25 March 1828, under the command of Alex Duthie, and arrived at Hobart Town on 10 August 1828. She embarked 172 male convicts, four of whom died on the voyage.
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Wikipedia